Horton Emergency Vehicles built this Type 1 ambulance on a Ford F-550 4×4 chassis for Stafford County (VA) Fire & Rescue. (Photo courtesy of FESCO Emergency Sales.)
By Alan M. Petrillo
Stafford County (VA) Fire & Rescue is a combined advanced life support (ALS) and basic life support (BLS) transport agency covering 260-square miles at the southern end of the Washington, DC metropolitan area, which includes Marine Corps Base Quantico.
The agency has been purchasing Horton Emergency Vehicles Type 1 ambulances on a frequency of two- to- three rigs a year for several years, with all the units being identical except for some small elements that were tweaked by feedback from medics.
The Horton Type 1 has a 193-inch wheelbase with a 167-inch long patient module in a door-forward design. (Photo courtesy of FESCO Emergency Sales.)
Ryland Kendrick, Stafford County Fire & Rescue’s emergency medical services (EMS) chief, says his agency staffs seven paramedic engines and six ambulances 24/7 with 250 paid full-time firefighter/emergency medical technicians (EMT), 80 of whom are paramedics, as well as four reserve ambulances, and an additional five reserve ambulances that are run ALS and BLS by 60 volunteer paramedics/EMTs.
Pete Laake Jr., president of FESCO Emergency Sales, who sold the rig to Stafford County Fire & EMS, says the new Horton is built on a Ford F-550 4×4 193-inch wheelbase chassis with a 167-inch long and 96-inch wide patient module with 72 inches of headroom, in a door-forward design, called a crash barrier design by Horton, powered by a 6.7-liter V8 diesel engine.
Stafford County’s new rig has a Cool Tech II condenser with an AcivTech 500 ultraviolet air purification system and a solar panel charging system. (Photo courtesy of FESCO Emergency Sales.)
He notes that the rig has a Cool Tech II condenser on the top front of the patient box with an ActivTech 500 ultraviolet (UV) air purification system and a solar panel charging system, an Opticom emitter, ION LED red/white grill lights, a Whelen electronic siren and Whelen Howler, Whelen LED emergency lighting, and a Kussmaul 20-amp shoreline connection.
Laake says the Horton Type 1 has a Zico electric oxygen bottle lift in the lower L1 compartment, with a Vanner LifeSine inverter/charging unit in the upper L1 compartment, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and turnout gear storage for two firefighters in the L2 compartment with an exhaust fan that discharges under the truck to remove any particulate contaminants from that compartment, and a stair chair and other equipment in the L3 compartment.
The new rig has the Horton Occupant Protection System (HOPS) of tubular and head curtain airbags, and Per4Max four point harnesses. (Photo courtesy of FESCO Emergency Sales.)
Kendrick points out that it was important for Stafford County to keep its rigs consistent across all of its units. “We have Stryker PowerLOAD and PowerCOTs on all of our ambulances,” Kendrick says, “and a layout that is consistent across all of the rigs. We have looked at what is essential for the medics to do their job, and then locked it in as to where it is on the rig. Going forward, we will be getting ventilators for the ambulances, so for newly ordered units, we’ll have to determine where they will be located, and for the current rigs, we’ll have to retrofit the ventilators onto them.”
The Stafford County Type 1 has a Stryker PowerLOAD system and PowerCOT. (Photo courtesy of Stafford County Fire & EMS.)
He says the interior of the new Horton rig has a CPR seat, attendant seat and two-position squad bench that has the ability to carry a second patient, with all seats protected by Per4Max four-point harnesses and curtain airbags. Kendrick adds that the next Stafford County Horton ambulance to come off the line will be outfitted with Horton’s MBrace®, where if a frontal collision occurs, a sensor detects the impact and deploys airbags from the multi-point harness, protecting the first responder’s head and neck.
Three of Stafford County’s Horton Type 1 ambulances stage at the scene of a major incident. (Photo courtesy of Stafford County Fire & EMS.)
Lighting on the Horton Type 1 ambulance includes Whelen M9 LED warning and scene lighting with a Whelen photocell system that is able to slow down the flash pattern of lights at the scene for better visibility, a Horton LED chevron lighting package at the rear of the rig, Horton LED Silhouette warning lights inside the rear and side entry doors, at the top of exterior compartments, and underneath the drip rail, and identity lighting on the side of the upper rub rail.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist, the author of three novels and five nonfiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.
